Fabio Borini admits he has wasted too much time in his career, seeing his second stint at Sunderland as a chance to make up some lost ground.

The Italian forward was an outcast during the end of his time at Liverpool, arriving back on Wearside in the final days of the transfer window after being forced to train on his own.

Borini admitted: “I wasted too much time. Not because I wanted to waste it, or deserved to waste it. I just wasted it.

“That’s why I came back to a place where I have been loved, and still feel the love from the supporters. I think it makes it easier. I don’t need to adapt to a new club because I already know how it works. And of course, playing every week is what I’ve missed the most.”

Borini says he is in the right physical shape to be thrown straight in against Tottenham on Sunday if head coach Dick Advocaat gives him the nod, despite enduring a difficult end to his time on Merseyside.

Asked about being told to train on his own, he said: “It was really upsetting. It was the killer that led me to leave Liverpool.

“I always gave everything for the club, and I showed that on the pitch and in training. Everyone knows within that club that I did everything and never complained.

“I’m ready to play, because I asked to play 60 minutes last week in a game. I’ve been working on my own at Liverpool, but this international break has helped me to adapt to the work here.”

Leaving it until late in the window before finalising his transfer to Sunderland, Borini explained: “Of course, I didn’t want to wait until the end of August because it meant training on my own for a month at Liverpool.

“The sooner it came the better. But I had to wait until the end because I felt that way that I could put myself in the best position possible to make the right decision.

“I can name all the clubs that came for me and it’s quite a lot. There were clubs that haven’t been named. I made the decision that I wanted to make because I want to play football. That’s the most important thing.

“I could have made a decision in June when teams were after me, when I wanted to get back to playing. But I didn’t do anything then because I didn’t think it was the right decision.”

Linked with a host of Italian clubs including Inter Milan, he added: “Inter was a bit harder because there are more players there, and it’s a big club, with lots of history.

“It would have been like Liverpool has been for me probably. You don’t know, as far as you make that decision.

“But I’m happy to be here because I can play football, and that’s what I wanted – what I missed the most.

“Sunderland could give me my football back.

“It is not only the supporters that persuaded me to come back here. It has been the director, the team and obviously what I felt towards the club.

“I’m still loved by Roma fans and still get tweets from them, so you kind of need to separate yourself and make the right decision, which Sunderland is.”

Admitting it has been tough watching Sunderland struggle during the early part of the Premier League season, he said: “It’s been hard, as always.

But I can see the quality within the team. You can see it in training over the last couple of days, even though all the internationals haven’t been back.

“We just need to get together and get used to playing together. Once we do that, I don’t think it will be a problem.”

On his ambitions of an international recall, he added: “Yes, for sure I want to get back in the Italy squad.

“Looking back at the previous games and the players that Italy have up front, they hardly play, unfortunately for us. You can see the results.

“Look at England, every player up front plays regularly, and that makes it more difficult for Italy. Coming back to a positive environment like Sunderland, compared to Liverpool, makes it easier for me with playing every week.”